


Every pane of glass

by ChicagosLights



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mythical creature traits, Patrick owns a glass shop, im still bad at tagging people and additional tags, single dad Pete Wentz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:42:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29658429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChicagosLights/pseuds/ChicagosLights
Summary: Pete's a single dad trying to get through life like anyone else; it's not easy really, having 3 children that have no bird-folk traits can be rough but so far he's managed.Patrick is single and isn't quite what his dragon parents had hoped he'd be, at least he has his friends and Sunshine Riptide, his glass and hot shop mixed in one.A not so lucky date Pete has leads him to Patrick's shop, unbeknownst to the two of them tying their lives together.
Relationships: Pete Wentz/Original Female Character, Pete Wentz/Patrick Stump
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Life never really turns out how you expect it. 

For one, Pete always figured he’d end up in a ditch somewhere as depressing as that sounds or getting too fucked up on drugs one day, the rockstar way to go out you know? But like previously stated life doesn’t go how you expect it, he didn’t expect to stop being in bands because of strange circumstances giving him a kid and in the following years up to present day Pete had given him 2 more kids. Yeah, life hadn't really gone how he’d hoped but that didn’t mean he hadn’t figured out how to adapt and it wasn’t like he’d been alone, he’d had his friends and family to help out with raising his kids. 

So he’s not really sure how life led up to him agreeing to go on a date to a glass blowing class. 

“A glass blowing class? I mean that’s definitely...new for a date idea” Gabe wrinkled his nose as he read looked over the page Pete had opened on his phone “I mean I give the girl credit for a cool idea” 

“I think she has experience with it so I hope she can give me pointers” Pete sighed as he set his phone down and leaned against his hand “I’m sorry for dropping the kids on you like this but seriously thank you” 

“Don’t mention it, you know I love the little monsters” Gabe grinned “Besides we know I’m the favorite uncle because I let them have sugar” 

“D  _ not  _ put my kids in a sugar coma” Pete was already imagining his mother scolding the hell out of him if she found out daddy’s friend let them eat so much they threw up. 

Speaking of the little monsters the sound of running and giggling came from down the hall before 2 kids appeared around the corner, both of them sliding along the kitchen floor before grabbing their dad’s shirt and started talking at once. 

“Jeez, where’s the fire?” Gabe laughed

Pete rolled his eyes and picked up his youngest, setting him on the kitchen island “ _ one  _ at a time you two, dad only has two ears. What’s up?” 

“Daddy Lucy ate a mouse!” Avery giggled and covered his face like it was still in front of him “it was gross!” 

“It was dead though, it wasn’t cool” Kendell huffed and crossed his arms pouting

Pete shot Gabe a look, his friend grinned sheepishly at him with a ‘woops’ shrug

“Well that’s how Lucifer eats kids, he’s a snake after all” Pete booped Avery on the nose and looked at Kendell “where’s Bennie?” 

“Drawing still” Kendell rolled his eyes.

“Be nice to your sibling” Pete ruffled his hair and picked Avery up setting him back on the ground “you’re gonna be good for uncle Gabe right? Daddy’s gonna be gone tonight” 

“Cause of a date” Kendell wrinkled his nose “why can’t we go with you” 

“Because Melody doesn’t like us” Avery stated factually, though he didn’t seem bothered by it 

Pete however flinched and Gabe noticed 

“Hey, that’s not true you two, whenever I’ve seen Melody with you guys she seems to love you kids” Gabe chirped, his cheeriness was painfully fake but Pete appreciated it anyway. 

Both boys just let it slide, Avery most likely cause he didn’t care and Kendell because he knew it would just upset his dad more, both ran off to the living room to go watch T.V. and while Gabe went after them Pete headed back to Gabe’s “Viper Room” to check on Bennie. They were sitting in a plastic chair in front of one of the ball python tanks, if Pete remembered right the pied ball python was named Oasis and she was Bennie’s favorite snake of Gabe’s. Balancing on the back of the chair was the sketchbook and Bennie’s pencil was sketching away on the page, Pete laughed quietly at seeing their tongue stuck out in thought. 

“Hi dad” Bennie said quietly, yeah even they were upset about Pete leaving tonight

“Hey kid” Pete walked over and knelt by them “having fun?” 

“Yeah, plenty of snakes to draw” 

Pete nodded sighing through his nose, looking at Oasis staring back at him “are you upset dad’s going on a date tonight too?” 

“No, I don’t care” they cared 

He sighed again and patted Bennie’s head “Gabe’s gonna babysit you okay? Behave for him please” 

Bennie huffed and moved their head away from him “I always do, I’m the oldest” 

Pete laughed lightly and stood back up “You’re twelve, you’re not a teenager just yet” 

Bennie said nothing, just went back to drawing, Pete took that as his cue to leave them alone. He checked his phone as he walked down the hall to see that it was almost time to head to the glass class, he stopped by the living room to hug his kids goodbye one more time, making them promise again that they’d behave for Gabe before heading to his car. The place was downtown and it was called Sunshine Riptide, when Pete finally made it and parked in front of the store he could see why; his first thought was this place was beautiful, with the plants creeping down the walls and the front window had a beautiful stain glass look of as sunset and severals dragons, his second thought then was this place had to have been run by one or at least had some working here.  
  


Inside was beautiful; the front of the store had shelves and displays of different glass creations, Pete wondered if people could sell their things here and while staring up at a glass wind-chime that looked like little pink and blue birds were sitting in a nest he heard someone ask “are you here for the class?” he looked over to the front counter to see a guy standing there, he looked more like he belonged in a tattoo parlor. 

“Yeah, I am” Pete wandered over and noticed some of the guy’s skin looked like crystal, maybe he owned the place?

“Cool, follow me then, everyone’s in the back” Crystal dude turned and walked through a doorway then paused “you coming?” 

“Oh, yeah right” Pete followed feeling awkward now but brushed it off. 

When he stepped into the hot shop after the guy he stopped dead in his tracks gasping a little,  _ geez  _ this place’s name fit it to a T; he saw a group of people where crystal guy was walking over to and some were already making glass, Pete looked around wondering if he could spot Melody, maybe a glass blowing class wasn’t a good date for him. Lucky for Pete though crystal guy had noticed Pete wasn’t following him anymore and went back over to him, he didn’t need to-or maybe he did and Pete didn’t know it- but he reached over and put his hand on Pete’s shoulder. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah uh” Pete laughed awkwardly and wiped some sweat from his head “Sorry, I’m not really the kind of bird meant for this kind of heat” 

“You’re a birdman?” crystal guy didn’t look too happy hearing that “no offense cause anyone can do this but you shouldn’t spend too long in here” 

“It’s for a date” Pete shrugged the hand on his shoulder and smiled “it’s fine really, if I get too hot I’ll step out. The concern’s appreciated” 

“If you’re sure” crystal guy shrugged and walked over to the group again

This time Pete followed him and spotted Melody talking with someone else, he smiled and went over to her gently touching her arm and saying “hey”. 

She turned to him and smiled back “Hey! You made it, I was worried you weren’t gonna come” 

“What? C’mon it’s a date, of course, I wouldn’t ditch you” Pete laughed and gave her a side-hug

Melody leaned into him and giggled, then gestured to who she had been talking to “this is Connor, I hope it’s okay but I invited him along too” 

“More the merrier” Pete held his hand “cool to meet you, I’m Pete” 

“Yeah, Melody’s mentioned you” Connor didn’t take the hand and glared at it actually, oooookay then

“Cool to know I’m talked about” Pete laughed weakly and put his hand in his pockets and turned his attention to Melody “so what’re we making then?”

“Well I already have experience doing this so I thought we could start simple and make a paperweight, something for you to try” Melody beamed at him, Pete didn’t really know if that was beginning lever but sure 

“Sounds fun” 

Connor was still glaring at him as Melody brought him over to some cubbies where colored glass was, Pete was starting to wonder if he was an ex maybe or someone who wanted to date Melody when the glare seemed to turn into acid at Pete putting his arm around Melody’s shoulder while they looked over colors. Still, he didn’t let it bother him, color rods found he followed Melody over to a station and let her get to work; Pete tried not to laugh about it but Melody was doing the making rather than Pete, she still talked him through everything as if he was the one blowing and shaping the glass but really he was just on the sidelines. Not that he minded it, it was nice to see how excited she was and Pete couldn’t help but smile.

As time went on though Pete did start to feel light-headed, he’d help Melody grab tools when asked but a few times he stumbled and his vision started to swim, his date however barely took noticed and seemed annoyed whenever Pete didn’t right away get her the tool. It was around when Pete was asked to give her shears and dropped them that he realized just how hot he had gotten, someone had grabbed his arm and pulled him away and out of the hot shop. He stumbled a little and shuddered at the cool air of the front of the store hitting him, Pete wasn’t surprised that crystal guy was his savior although the guy didn’t look too happy. 

“Sorry about that, I guess I didn’t realize how hot I was getting” Pete laughed weakly

“Well your girlfriend could’ve noticed too” crystal guy walked behind the counter over to a little fridge and grabbed a water bottle, handing it to Pete “fact of a hot shop, stay hydrated or you will blackout” 

“Noted” Pete took a big gulp of water and shivered again “what’s your name by the way? Might as well know my savior’s name” 

“You’re dramatic aren’t you” crystal guy rolled his eyes but didn't seem annoyed “Andy, I heard your name from your girlfriend. I’d suggest you stay here for a bit Pete, I’ll go tell her what happened” 

“Thanks” 

Andy disappeared back into the hot shop but a few seconds later someone else turned up, a guy smaller than Andy and looking like he should have been in a bookstore.

“Oh good, you’re not fainted” he said as he walked up to Pete 

“Um, Yeah? I mean, yeah it’s good” Pete smiled awkwardly

Small guy sat on the counter and looked him over for a few seconds “I’m Patrick, I came out to check on you after Andy mentioned you almost took a fall”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry I’m okay. Your friend caught me before I fell” Pete hummed and took another gulp “although I appreciate the water” 

Patrick nodded still looking serious “well I’m glad he did, hitting your head on a concrete floor hurts like a bitch, I”d know” 

“You done that before huh?” Pete winced at the imaginary pain his brain conjured up “I don’t know if I’ll be going back in any time soon, so much for this date” 

“You’re here on a date?” Patrick tilted his head curiously “pretty interesting idea, whose was it?” 

“Girlfriend” Pete rolled the half-full bottle in his hands a bit before looking up at Patrick “not that I don’t appreciate your concern, really I do, but you can head back now. You can tell your boss I’m not gonna press charges or anything” 

Patrick didn’t seem to find the joke funny, pursing his lips and quirking a brow “that’s not really a problem” 

Pete’s smile dropped “what do you mean?” 

“I’m the owner” 

Oh.

Well then.

Pete was pretty sure he was cherry red judging by how Patrick’s lips turned into an amused smile. 

“Don’t sweat it, people have several preconceived notions when they first see me” Patrick hopped off the counter but frowned “actually I know you said you’re fine but why isn’t your girlfriend back here? If my boyfriend fainted I’d be pretty worried about him” 

Pete just shrugged “we haven’t really been dating long, besides Andy said he was gonna tell her what happened so I’m sure she thinks I’m being taken care of” 

Patrick pursed his lips again but didn’t say anything this time, he just nodded and headed back to the hot shop. Pete finished off his water before deciding to head back as well, it was just a comment of course but now that Patrick mentioned it why hadn’t Melody at least come by to double-check he was okay? Never mind, he hadn't dated Melody long, maybe that was just how she was sometimes. She was still at the station although now she was making something else that looked like a glass person, when Pete said “hey” all she did was grunt in acknowledgment before sticking the sculpture back in the glory hole. 

“Your paperweight's done now, I’m working on something for my mom, hope that’s okay” Melody hummed and looked at him, then seemed to become concerned “you okay? I didn’t know bird people can’t handle heat, I thought tropical ones could handle it” 

“This place is like an oven, even a bird can’t handle that” Pete felt a twinge of annoyance at that, maybe he should have suggested a different date place “it’s cool here at least, thanks for making the appear weight” 

“Uh-huh,” she flashed him a smile before pulling the sculpture out and hurrying back to the station to pull and twist more of the sculpture into shapes “did you wanna get something to eat after this by the way? I know this really great restaurant nearby, it’s super catering to elementals” 

“How hot is it in there though” 

Immediately her smile shrank and looked plastic “ah-ha, right yeah, well how about something else then? There’s a lot of food places in this artsy area of downtown, maybe Italian?” 

“Italian sounds great” Pete smiled and looked around the hot shop, god he felt so awkward just standing there “I met the owner of the place” 

“You did?” she looked concerned more about that than Pete almost fainting “are we in trouble for you almost fainting?” 

_ What?  _ “No no, he was checking up on me too” Pete frowned and looked at the sculpture starting to cool on the end of the rod “you know not to be mean but you seem a lot more concerned about us being in this class than me almost fainting” 

“But you’re okay, that crystal dragon guy came by and told me you were alright” right, so Pete did guess what she was thinking correctly “I’m glad you’re okay seriously Pete” 

Her smile felt fake but Pete just let it slide, this time when he started to sweat bullets more he was aware of it and stepped out of the hot shop for a bit. 

*

“I want to thank you all for coming today, I know this wasn't really much of a class but me and Andy hope you made things you were proud of” Patrick smiled around at everyone “if any of you wanna come by and work on your craft or just for the hell of it you’re more than welcome to do that here. Don’t forget your things are waiting up at the front” 

“He’s very short” Melody commented as she and Pete followed other folks out of the hot shop “still this place was pretty great, maybe we can come here again?” 

“Actually I’d rather not” Pete said, as they entered the front of the store he made a mental note to look around for gifts “it was really cool, definitely a date I’ve never been on before but I’d rather not with how hot it got” 

“Oh” Melody stopped in her tracks, Pete had to pull her along again to keep people from bumping into her “Oh I mean-yeah, yeah fainting would suck. You had fun though right?” 

Pete winced, he hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings “I did, really I did. It was nice seeing how excited you were while making things” 

Melody gave him a little smile though he knew he really hurt her, when they walked up to where their items were sitting on the counter Pete was in awe at her sculpture; Melody herself was a fire elemental, the sculpture she had made was probably meant to be an air elemental since she did say it was a gift for her mother, it was absolutely breathtaking and looked as if there was moving wind caught in white glass. The paperweight was beautiful as well, it was had flecks of white and lavender inside a deep purple heart, inside Pete was pretty sure there was even a bubble heart inside as well. 

“This is beautiful” Pete picked it up gingerly and turned to smile at Melody “why’d you choose purple?” 

Melody was beaming “you said purple was your favorite color, I thought you’d like it” 

“Purple? No my favorite’s yellow, I did mention that Bennie and Avery loved purple” Pete smiled back at the heart, his kids would love it and no doubt try and take it off the shelf despite their dad telling them now “I love it still anyway, the kids will too” 

Melody was frowning now “you let your kids pick up your valuables” 

“They’re kids Mel, I don’t really control them” Pete laughed but Melody’s expression hadn’t changed. 

To make this awkwardness worse Connor seemed to have hung around, after all, he walked over holding a round vase and had the same stormy look. 

“What’s that” he looked at the paperweight unimpressed “is that your best attempt? You really don’t know anything about glass” 

“ _ Actually  _ Melody made it” Pete looked at her then back at Connor “your vase is beautiful” 

“Sure” Connor drawled, now he looked embarrassed 

Melody just had a forced smile “I’m glad you could make it here Connor, Pete and I are gonna go get dinner now, tell Annie I said hi” 

“Will do” Connor grumbled and walked away. 

Admittedly? This wasn’t the worst date Pete had been on. Melody gave him instructions on the restaurant they were heading to, before he headed out Pete sent Gabe a quick text to check up on things were then drove off to a place called Rigotone. The restaurant looked packed judging by all the cars in the lot, even the outside terrace was full of people, Pete found a spot at least and texted Melody to see if she’d made it while checking on the text Gabe had sent;

_ Everything’s alright, Avery and Kendell fell asleep early so it’s just me and Bennie watching horror movies -  _ Gabe 

_ They’re currently schooling me on monster design, your kid is a monster snob :p how’s the date?  _ \- Gabe 

Pete rolled his eyes smiling, he had a feeling Bennie demand they watch Alien meaning Pete was going to have to reassure them there was nothing under the bed and that there was in fact no eggs in the bathroom. 

_ Rough start, I think she might have invited her ex to come along? Talk more about it when I get back  _ \- Pete

Right after he sent that text Melody messaged saying she was at the front, Pete exited the car and smiled at her again as he walked up and hooked his arm around hers. 

“This place is packed” she laughed as they entered “the foods great though really”

“I believe you” Pete hummed 

They were seated in a booth and ordered risotto, now that they weren’t in the hot shop it felt like all the other dates Pete had been on with Melody; laughing and carefree, talking about whatever and telling Pete funny stories, maybe it was just her becoming so focused that made her indifferent the way she was in the hot shop. They ordered another serving of risotto and Melody ordered herself a glass of wine. 

“I wanted to apologize by the way” she sighed as she took a sip “about Connor I mean, I thought he’d be a little nicer” 

Pete shrugged smiling “it’s all good, I’ve met bigger assholes. Can I ask what his deal is? Protective friend, brother?” 

“Uh” Melody laughed awkwardly “yeah, I mean yeah protective friend. Bad relationships in the past but really he didn’t need to act that way” 

“Eh don’t sweat it” Pete reached over the table to take her hand smiling “I get having protective friends, I promise his asshole attitude didn't ruin my evening” 

“I’m glad to hear” she said smiling back 

They ordered some cassata and finished it off, laughing and talking like before until it was time to leave, and  _ then  _ things got awkward. 

“Did you maybe wanna come over?” Melody rocked on her feet a little smiling at him

“I would but I have to get my kids, their uncle’s babysitting them right now” Pete shrugged, it was a normal thing for him and usually he’d let them stay with Gabe but he had work in the morning.

Melody’s smile became tight then “ahm, Pete, can we talk about that by the way?” 

“About what, my kids?” he didn’t like the sound of that. 

He followed Melody over to her car, when she turned around and leaned back against it her expression made his stomach twist again. 

“Pete it’s just...you seem to always have your kids in the way of things” 

“Excuse me?” did she really say that? 

“You’re always not able to spend time with me because of them” Melody hurried as if that was any better, “you said they’re being babysat by their uncle right? Well, can’t he just take care of them or have their aunt take care of them? I really wanted to spend more time with you tonight” 

Pete pressed his lips into a line before speaking “they’re my  _ kids,  _ I’m their father. And no, their uncle can’t because he has work in the morning and he doesn't have a wife. Also, do you hear yourself? Are you saying my kids shouldn’t come first?” 

“That is not what I’m saying” Melody said quickly, a look of hurt on her face “it’s just-Pete you shouldn’t let your kids be near breakable decorations is all, they’re your kids they’re supposed to listen if you tell them not to do something. And-and you said so yourself once that sometimes you miss meetings because of them, aren’t you tired of your kids getting in the way of things sometimes?” 

There’d been plenty of things to make Pete’s blood boil but this was maybe on the top list. 

“My kids have never gotten in the way of me enjoying life” Pete tried to keep his tone down but it sounded like acid to even himself “I’m sorry that you don’t understand that Melody but you know what? You’re in luck because even my kids know you don’t like them. I thought-no actually I was hoping that maybe it was just the newness of their dad having a girlfriend that had them feeling that way but this-you know what? Goodnight Melody” 

“Pete wait!” Melody tried to grab his arm as he practically jogged back to his car. 

He didn’t drive off right away, driving when emotional was a bad thing to do and he’d had enough experience knowing that; Pete ran a hand over his face blowing out a sigh before calling Gabe. 

“ _ Pete? Everything okay?”  _ Gabe’s concerned tone made Pete feel guilty 

“Not really no, I’m-I need to take a few seconds to breathe. I might be a bit” 

_ “Take as long as you need, the kids are asleep. What’s going on though, wanna talk?”  _

Pete sighed again and looked out his window at the restaurant “am I a shit father for wanting the kids to have another parent this bad?” 

“ _ What-uh, no I don’t think so personally. Why, did Melody say something?”  _

“It’s...it’s a lot, I’ll tell you when I get back”

“ _ Alright, drive safe Pete”  _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone didn't like Melody before I apologize but she isn't going away for a bit  
> Have fun with a lady who has no idea how to act around kids

The house was quiet when he stepped in save for the sound of the radio, Pete toed his sneakers off sighing and headed down the foyer to where it opened to the kitchen, Gabe was at the island on his laptop and looked up when Pete sighed again. 

“Hey, you look awful. What happened?” He sat up straighter and frowned looking concerned 

Pete sat across from his and rubbed his hands over his face groaning “when you’re in a relationship with someone and they have kids, you-you just know that the kids come first right?” 

Gabe’s look of concern turned to one of annoyance “what’d she say about the kid” 

“She said they’re always getting in the way of me and asked why I wasn’t sick of it. Can you believe that shit, asking a  _ father  _ if they're sick of his kids-what the hell was she trying to accomplish anyway?” Pete rubbed a hand over his face again puffing out a sigh, along his neck and sides of his heads he could feel feathers beginning to peek out “I was really just hoping it was because she hasn’t been around kids a lot that she’s so standoffish but...god I hate to say it but Avery’s right, I don’t think she likes my kids” 

“Fuck her” Gabe scowled and reached over, Pete was confused until he realized Gabe was pushing some of his feathers down gently “don’t let her get you so worked up, it’s not worth it. So I take it you’re both done?” 

Pete sighed and picked at a spot on the island “I mean, I guess? I don’t know…”

“You’re kidding” Gabe’s tone dropped to one of disbelief “Pete, this girl literally said your kids are in the way of you living life. You know your kids don’t need a mom that bad right? You’re doing good on your own” 

“I know” Pete looked up at the ceiling feeling guilt creep in his stomach, “I think I just need to take a break again, this is just...I’m gonna call her tomorrow, talk to her” 

“If that’s what you want. Hey, what's in the bag by the way?” 

“Huh? Oh” Pete opened the little plastic bag he’d set beside him and held out the paperweight “it was something I was supposed to make but really Melody was the one taking over. I was fine with it though cause she seemed happy but I’m not sure happiness was worth me fainting-”

  
“ _ You fainted?”  _ Gabe shouted before clapping a hand over his mouth and Pete hissing a shush at him “dude what the fuck, so not only did she say your kids are roadblocks but you almost fainted and she didn't care?” 

“No that’s not the case” maybe it was though, Pete shook his head sighing and ran a hand through his hair “It got super hot and I  _ almost  _ fainted I should have said. I got taken out of the hot shop by one of the workers there, got to meet the owner too although that was pretty awkward” 

Gabe huffed and picked up the paperweight, turning it over in his hands a few times before shrugging “it’s pretty I’ll give it that, the heart shape would be cute I guess if this date hadn’t been such a disaster for you” 

Pete nodded and took the paperweight back, smiling weakly “apparently she made it purple cause she misheard me when I said what my favorite color was. She looked so pissed when I said I had to hide it from my kids” 

“Another thing to add to the list. Minusing that, it is a pretty paperweight” Gabe hummed then suddenly sat up beaming “hey! You could take the kids to a class! They’d love it” 

“That actually sounds like a great idea” Pete’s down expression changed into a genuine smile “yeah, yeah that sounds awesome actually. Sunshine Riptide was a great place, and Patrick and Andy seemed like cool guys. I’ll look more into it tomorrow” 

“Of course it’s a great idea, it’s mine” Gabe beamed and laughed at Pete sticking his tongue out “c’mon man, you’re not driving this late. You know where the guest room is” 

“Mhm” 

Both men got up and hugged before separating and headed to their separate rooms, Pete stopped to check in the living room where Avery and Kendell were sleeping on an air mattress and Bennie was crashed on the couch, Pete smiled at his sleeping children and mumbled a quiet “sweet dreams” before heading down the main floor hall to the guest bedroom. 

* * *

“Don’t touch anything okay? If you want dad to look at it come get me but don’t grab things” Pete looked back at his 3 kids waiting for a nod “well?” 

“Yes daddy”

“Okay” 

Pete sighed nodding and exited the driver seat, going to the back and opening it for Avery to jump out and cling to his dad giggling. Kendell walked alongside his dad while Bennie held Pete’s free hand, all the kids gawked in awe at the dragon glass window and their dad couldn’t help but smile, nice idea uncle Gabe. The front store was empty like before, the kids were all wide-eyed and looking around at all the glass while Pete kept tugging them along to the front register, there was one of those bellhop bells so he tapped it a few times. A door opened out of site and the familiar face of Patrick popped around the corner, he looked surprised seeing Pete but even more bug-eyed seeing the kids. 

“Oh, hey, you again um...sorry, I’m bad with names” Patrick laughed awkwardly and walked over, standing behind the counter rocking on his feet “hi again” 

“Hi again Patrick, and it’s Pete, no worries” he smiled and glanced at his kids before looking back at Patrick “they’re not gonna break anything don’t worry” 

“No of course not, thinking kids always break things is pretty judgemental” Patrick was blushing though probably from embarrassment, Pete wasn't sure “anyway, what’s up? How can I help” 

“Well, I was wondering if there were any glass classes for kids?” Pete gestured tugged a little on the hand Bennie was holding, his kid however stayed hiding behind him “My oldest and youngest are little Picassos themselves and I was wondering if there was an option?” 

“Oh I”m sorry, kids under eighteen actually aren’t allowed in a hot shop. Not safe and all you know?” Patrick looked at the kids for a few seconds then back at Pete “but there is options sort of for a glass class of sorts. Parental supervision is needed, but we have little classes where the kid can make ornaments and we take care of the rest” 

“Can we do that daddy!” Avery pulled on Pete’s arm almost yanking his dad down “can we, can we? I wanna make a ornament!” 

“ _ An  _ ornament” Bennie mumbled from behind their dad, they peeked out at Patrick before hiding again “I don’t wanna make ornaments dad, I wanna go home” 

Pete laughed nervously and squeezed their hand “sorry about them, they're really shy. We’d love to do the ornament class, when is it?” 

“Here let me grab you the paper” Patrick disappeared behind the counter 

Pete wasn’t sure how he was smiling but apparently, his oldest didn't approve.

“ _ Dad”  _ he heard Bennie hiss, looking down at them their face was scrunched up in a disapproving way “that's gross” 

“What’s gross?” Patrick stood back up with the paper in hand.

“I smell fire” Bennie responded quickly, still hiding behind their dad. 

Patrick hummed smiling and handed Pete the paper “the hot shop can smell weird yeah, I hope it doesn’t bother you too much” 

“Are you having a class today?” 

Pete wasn’t really sure why he was still there, he’d already gotten this paper to look over class hours so he should have left already right? Except he had to admit Patrick was kind of cute, and no he wasn’t going to jump right back into dating, he still had to officially break up with Melody but hey can’t he talk to a guy with beautiful blue eyes? 

“Nah, just the usual glassblowers we have around town came in today to do some work” Patrick leaned against the counter with a small smile “it sounds lame I know but we’re one of the few shops that don't make someone rent or book ahead of time. We’re actually having an event this weekend to try and sell some pieces, a few artists are just coming in to do some quick mini work” 

“That doesn’t sound lame at all, I think that’s really cool of you to just let folks come in” Pete glanced at the paper pretending to read it but really he was just blankly staring at words on a colored paper “is it being held here?” 

“Close to here, at a warehouse called Crystal Panes,” Patrick pointed to the right wall “it’s down the street, can’t miss it. I take it I’ll be seeing you there then?” 

“Hopefully, depends on if work doesn’t get in the way” Pete smiled at Patrick and received one in turn “thanks again, I’ll consider the classes. Have a good day Patrick” 

“You too” Patrick started to turn but stopped and looked over his shoulder at Pete “did you maybe want to look around the storefront?” 

Pete looked at his kids who were now doing just that, he looked back up and nodded letting go of Avery and Bennie’s hands; even if Patrick tried to put up a cool front Patrick could see the nervousness in his eyes and body language as the kids wandered around the shelves, thankfully they listened to his instructions and Avery called for his dad instead of grabbed the heavy looking glass lion off the shelf, a relief to both owner and dad. Kendell found a pendant with a little tree and Bennie a glass unicorn, Patrick gave him a confused look as he laughed but didn’t ask, if he knew the irony of his kids’ choice maybe he’d chuckle at least. He wrung them up and carefully wrapped the 2 glass figures up and let Kendell wear his pendant. 

“How come you can be around fire?” Kendell asked skeptically, fidgeting around with the tree and squinting his eyes at Patrick 

The man laughed a little “well anyone can be in the hot shop, it’s just easier for me because I’m a dragon” 

“You are?” Avery piped up and tried to grab the edge of the counter, his arms were straining from the looks of it but he was too excited to care “does that mean you have wings? I have wings but they’re not that big. Daddy has wings though! He has arm wings, I’ve got wings on my back cause-” 

“Info dumper, reel it back” Bennie picked up their brother and glanced at Patrick then Pete “I’m gonna go to the car dad” leaving with Kendell in tow

“Leave me with all the heavy lifting” Pete joked but smiled at Patrick apologetically “sorry about that, kids” 

“I get it, my sister’s are like that” Patrick hummed smiling back “have a good day Pete” 

“You too” 

Avery whined about wanting to see his lion right away but Pete told him no, an obvious tantrum was on its way but promising a trip to the cookie factory quickly calmed him down, sugar to a 5 year was the best plan in the world. They stopped at a park and Kendell and Avery ran off to play on the jungle gym, Pete sat at a table nearby and Bennie sat with him, he had a feeling they were going to have a talk and sure enough after they finished off their first cookie they sat up straighter and clasped their hands together on the table; they looked too adult for a 12-year-old, a ball of guilt rolled in Pete’s gut and he wondered if that was because of him. 

“So before you woke up this morning uncle Gabe told me you broke up with Melody” 

“You know you’re too adult for a kid right?” Pete sighed and set his own cookie down “no, I haven’t broken up with her just yet” 

Bennie just ignored that “I didn’t get a choice on how fast I grew up. Anyway more importantly, you know we don’t need a mom right? You’re doing fine” 

Pete sighed and rubbed at his face “sometimes you don’t even sound like my kid, it sounds more like you’re a friend or something” 

“I’m not your kid” that stung but Pete knew what Bennie meant, unfortunately it was something they’d become more aware of when they were 9 “look, dad, I don’t think she even knows what a kid is besides what someone was once upon a time before they got older. Avery doesn’t like her, Kenny doesn’t like her,  __ I detest her because you say hate it is a strong word” 

“You shouldn’t hate someone” Pete mumbled taking a bit of his cookie “I don’t know why you hate her but that’s fine, you’re allowed to feel how you want. Look sweetie what exactly was the point of you starting this conversation?” 

“ _ Dad  _ you were totally checking out the guy at the store” Bennie huffed wrinkling their nose “that’s gross for one, but also if you just broke up with Melody isn’t it gonna look bad on your if you date someone right away again” 

Pete furrowed his brow frowning “who taught you that? I know for a fact school doesn’t teach you shit” 

“You shouldn’t cuss in front of your kids and I learned that from uncle Will” Bennie crossed their arms “so now that that’s settled (“nothings been settled!”) are you gonna break up with Melody yet?” 

“I will when I have time to call her” Bennie gave him a look “right, now’s a free time. Go play with your brothers, this is an adult conversation.” 

They huffed but hopped off the table seat and went over to the playground, Pete sighed and ran a hand through his hair wincing as he felt feathers peeking around his ears, calling Melody was probably going to get him even more worked up so he may as well not bother smoothing them down. As he took his phone out though he almost dropped it as it began ringing, who was calling him? Pete managed to finally hold it to see that it was none other than Melody calling him, well fates fortune. 

“Hello?” Pete asked warily

“ _ Pete hey, it’s me, Melody. I mean, you probably know from your phone-look I just wanted to talk about last night”  _ her voice sounded scratchy, he hoped she hadn’t been crying 

“I think you made very clear last night about how you feel about my kids” Pete glanced over at said kids, they should come first not a relationship. 

“ _ That’s not-you-I’m sorry okay? Really I am so very sorry about what I said. I don’t have kids, I don’t know what it’s like to care that much. I didn’t mean to make it sound like they’re ruining your life I just, I don’t understand what it’s like to have kids that much in your life”  _

“You’re not making a good case for yourself” Pete sighed “look, what you said really hurt. They’re my kids and they’ve never ruined my life, they've never gotten in the way of anything. You twisted my words in your favor, when I mentioned they sometimes caused me to be late for meetings that wasn’t me complaining about my children, that was just me telling you things” 

“ _ And I realize that now!”  _ Melody said quickly, what was her point of this call? “ _ Look I, I want to start over please? You’re a great guy and I really enjoyed our dates, can I get a second chance? Please?”  _

Pete stared at a hole in the table, a second chance? Really? And here was where his resolve was crumbling a little; no, his kids didn’t need a second parent, they were doing fine and it wasn't like Pete didn't have good people in his life that had helped him raise them. Then there was the more selfish reason, Pete was tired of being alone, that was a shit reason and he knew that all these dates probably were tiring to his kids but he really hated waking up in bed alone with no one in the morning. 

Still, kids should come first. 

“No Melody, we’re done. I’m taking a break from dating now and, you’re nice really you are but I need someone to be able to adapt with me when my kids are in the mix” 

Her end of the line went quiet, Pete wondered if she’d hung up before he heard her clear her throat (which ew, a weird sound over the phone) “ _ right, yeah I ...I get that...sorry for hoping for a second chance”  _

Pete sighed “Melody-”

“ _ Can’t we be friends at least?”  _ she interrupted, instinctively he wanted to say no because that was a trainwreck path at times “ _ I had a great time with you, we don’t have to go back to dating”  _

That couldn’t have been bad at least, right? Melody was nice as a person and they didn’t have to date, Pete didn't really think anything was wrong with it. 

“Sure” 

Melody giggled, was that weird? “ _ Thanks I, thanks. Thanks for the talk, Pete, I’ll call you later?”  _

“Yeah, sure, talk to you some time” Pete hung up and set it down, sure enough his feathers had only multiplied. 

“Daddy?” he jumped a little when had Avery come over “my tummy hurts, can we go home now?” 

“I think I gave you too much sugar” Pete hummed and picked his son up, setting him in his lap and giving him a hug “no more cookies alright?” 

“No more” Avery agreed grumpily. 

Pete called the kids over and they all piled back into the car, he wasn’t surprised that Avery conked out on their way back home, Kendell and Bennie started playing the ‘guess the cartoon movie’ game with Pete occasionally having to play referee when Kenny accused Bennie of cheating. 

*

“Dad! Dad!” Kendell’s excited voice came from the hall.

Pete sighed and saved the document before turning around “what’s up bud?” 

“I almost completely changed in the yard! I got up to my left arm and it almost had flowers!” he waved said arm around, face was bright with a grin and jumping like an excited rabbit. 

“No way, that’s great!” Pete oofed when Kendell ran over to hug him “you wanna show me? I think it’s time for dad to take a break” 

“Yeah yeah, come on!” Kendell pulled on his dad’s arm dragging him down the hall and downstairs. 

The stairs going down entered a hallway where the living room was down the hall and another room down was the back room where the backyard doors were; passing by the living room Pete saw both kids conked out and their dogs were chilling with them, quickly getting up though as Pete headed to the back. Saturday and Bowie took off running around the backyard while Kendell kept pulling Pete out until he let go of his hand and hurried to stand in the middle of the yard. 

“Okay okay, are you watching?” 

Pete nodded, he hoped he looked as excited as he needed to. Kendell nodded and took a deep breath before lifting his arms up and making them look a little bent, mimicking tree branches; slowly his feet and legs turned into wood, creeping up and turning the rest of him into magnolia wood, like he said one of his arms turned into a branch and 2 flowers appeared on it. The wood stopped just there but it was a lot more than the last time Kendell had tried changing, his face had to have hurt by how wide his smile was. 

“Look look!” Kendell quickly changed back to human and raced back over to his dad, crashing into him and hugging him tightly

“I can see Kenny, that’s amazing!” Pete laughed and hugged him back “you’re almost turning completely into a tree” 

“Can I tell mom? Do you think she’ll be proud of me?” Kendell pulled away and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt “can we call her?” 

“Sure but she might not answer right away bud, let’s go call her anyway” 

“Ye-es!” Kendell raced past him and to the kitchen

He was bouncing again while standing by the phone, he only stopped when Pete dialed his mom’s number and the two waited, Kendell looked almost blue from holding his breath before after 5 rings someone picked up:

“ _ Hello? _

“Hi Cleo-” 

“Mom, mom!” Kendell grabbed Pete’s arm yanking it down, his dad cried out in pain but the kid was tunnel-visioned “mom, mom! I almost turned completely into a tree!” 

“ _ Oh wow Kenny, that’s great!”  _ Cleo sounded surprised and excited “ _ how much did you change?”  _

“I got flowers on my left arm!”

Cleo laughed “ _ oh honey that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you. You can show me this weekend”  _

Kendell’s smile dropped “it’s your weekend?” 

Pete felt his face heat up, shit he’d forgotten “hey how about I talk to mom real quick?”

“Oh, okay dad, I’m gonna go watch T.V.” he hugged his dad before disappearing down the hall 

“ _ What does he mean ‘it’s your weekend?”  _ Cleo didn’t sound mad but not exactly happy either 

“I’m sorry I completely forgot. It still is your weekend don’t worry, I just, it’s been a rough week and it slipped my mind” 

Cleo hummed “ _ does this have to do with that girlfriend I’ve heard about?”  _

Pete winced “the kids have mentioned her?” 

“ _ Not by name, but Avery has said dad has a new girlfriend and she doesn’t like them. Kenny being the gentleman he is just said he doesn’t think she’s been around kids before”  _ Cleo sighed and there was movement around on her end before it settled “ _ Is everything alright? I mean, we’re not together of course and I know it’s Jeremy you dated but…”  _

“He’s not really in our lives anymore is he? And yeah, it’s alright kind of” Pete leaned a little to look down the hall before leaning against the wall “her name was Melody, we worked out okay but...yeah she told me she’s never really had kids in her life” 

_ “She hasn’t been hurting the kids, right?”  _

“No no, not at all” Pete hurried to reassure her “Just, last night I thought our date was going great but she confessed that she didn’t like that I put the kids first” 

“ _ Are you fucking kidding me?”  _ Cleo’s laugh was harsh “ _ that’s what happens when you date someone with kids. You have to adapt-god I’m sorry Pete, that’s awful”  _

“It’s okay, it’s not like you made her personality” he laughed weakly then sighed “but yeah, I’m so sorry I forgot it was your weekend. The place she took me to on a date, it was this glass-blowing place and they’re having a showing this weekend at a warehouse downtown. I told the kids I’d take them and completely forgot it was your weekend” 

Cleo’s line was quiet for a moment before she hummed “ _ well I don’t have any plans this weekend to be honest, so how about we just meet up there? Let the kids look around, then I take them after?”  _

“Really? That’d be awesome” Pete grinned

“ _ Kids are allowed there right? So that we don’t know to show up and something shatters”  _ Cleo laughed but he could hear her nervousness

“No yeah, kids are allowed, I asked. See you this weekend then-oh wait, let me get Kenny to say goodbye” 

“ _ Where’s Avery by the way?”  _

“Oh he’s sleeping, exhausted from the park” 

Cleo laughed with an “of course”, Kendell came running back into the kitchen and took the phone, clearly excited they could still see the showing this weekend and made his mom promise he could show her his progress on transforming. After hanging up Kendell disappeared back to the living room leaving dad to decide on what should be for lunch, a few minutes later a tired Bennie appeared sluggishly pulling themselves to sit at the kitchen island. 

“Good afternoon sleeping beauty” Pete ruffled their hair earning a huff and laughed “what do you think sounds good for lunch?” 

“Sandwiches I guess” Bennie crawled into the chair and plopped their face into their arms. 

“What’s wrong, bad nap?” Pete asked while digging through the fridge, BLTs sounded good 

Bennie shrugged, then looked up at Pete “how come you have us if we make your life so hard” 

He paused mid-pulling out some mayo and sighed “I thought I asked you to play with your brothers” 

“I heard you down the hall” they shrugged again then hid their face in their arms “you could just give Cleo full custody and find me a home, it wouldn’t be that hard” 

“Bennie Wentz” Pete didn’t mean to but he slammed the fridge shut and turned to them with a disapproving look “you guys are not ruining my life, nor have you  _ ever  _ done that. I love you guys okay?” 

Bennie stayed quiet then shrugged “okay” 

Right, hopefully sandwiches made the afternoon better. 

“What were you and Gabe watching last night?” usually monster talking was a good way to get Bennie out of a funk. 

It seemed to at least get them to sit up a bit “ _ Alien,  _ Gabe said a Predator was a better monster, he’s very wrong” 

Pete grinned and tried to keep from laughing “oh yeah? Wanna tell me why” 

Bennie snorted “I’ve  _ told  _ you why, it’s because Xenomorphs…” 

And now Pete was finishing 4 different plates for the family while Bennie explained why Xenomorphs were superior to Predators, it was a mood change that Pete welcomed and hoped would stay. They had lunch outside where Kendell kept trying to turn completely into a tree, he only managed to get more flowers on his left arm but he was satisfied with it enough to sit down and start eating some garlic ships. 

“Are we gonna buy stuff this weekend daddy?” Avery asked while pretending his sandwich was a plane 

“I’m not sure buddy, we’ll see when we get there okay? And don’t play with your food pleas” Pete reached over and took the sandwich, setting it back on the plate “don’t you like your lion?” 

Avery scrunched his face in thought while looking at the sandwich, then shrugged “it’s pretty, I was hopin’ it’d have wings like me though” 

“It’s a lion, dork, lions don’t have wings like sphynx's” Bennie poked a garlic chip against Avery’s cheek “maybe someone will have a glass sphynx at the event” 

“Will they daddy?” Avery sat up almost spilling his plate “I want a glass sphynx!” 

“Avery careful, and that’s a  _ maybe,  _ not a definitely. Do you remember the difference?” Pete watched the gears in his son’s head work before he shook it “definitely means yes, maybe means there might be but there also might not be” 

Avery nodded sagely then but Pete knew he probably didn’t  _ quite  _ understand what it meant. 

“How come Bennie got to keep their unicorn in their room” Avery then asked. 

Pete laughed at Bennie rolling their eyes “because I’m older Avery, when you’re older you can keep your lion statue in your room” 

“That’s a long time away, Ben” Avery frowned and turned to Pete “daddy, can I have a lion stuffie instead?” 

“Do you want a lion stuffie or a sphynx one?” Pete laughed at the gasp Avery let out “how about we look for a sphynx one some time okay?” 

“Ye-es!” Avery pumped a fist up into the air and beamed at both his siblings “are you gonna get stuffies with me?” 

“Stuffed animals are-ow!” Kendell shot a glare at Bennie across the table, Pete had a feeling they just kicked him

“Kenny doesn’t want a stuffed tree, how about we get him a cool action figure instead?” Bennie gave their dad an innocent smile, yeah right kid dad knows you kicked middle brother. 

“How about we make gift plans for when it’s one of your birthdays, and keep your feet to yourself-I don’t care who did it I’m finishing it” Pete said quickly as both older kids started to argue “now come on, let’s clean up and everyone head inside. Dad has to get some work done” 

A chorus of “okay” came from his kids as they grabbed their plates and scurried past him back inside, Pete hummed taking a few moments to enjoy the sun before getting up and heading inside. 

* * *

The warehouse felt like an airplane hanger as the family entered, inside was more crowded than Pete had expected but he was happy to see other folks had their kids too, hopefully Avery and Kendell wouldn’t feel so anxious about being there now. Cleo was supposed to meet them around 3 which would be in about 2ish hours so she’d said Pete could head in ahead of her. Bennie disappeared somewhere in the crowds ahead of him, he wasn’t too worried since they’d decided to wear the brightest and tooth-achingly colorful clothes today, Avery and Kendell held on to their dad’s hands and walked with him along the tables full of glass creations. 

“Daddy when’s mom getting here?” Avery asked while looking around a vase that changed his reflection 

“In a bit, don’t worry you’re still gonna have your weekend with her” Pete laughed and ruffled his hair “do you think she might want something here?” 

“Mom would like a bracelet probably” Kendell pointed over at a table where glass jewelry was “over there dad” 

The table was full of different colors and shapes of jewelry, Pete didn’t realize there was so much you could make jewelry out of glass. Avery was looking over rings while Kendell was deciding on a bracelet for their mom, Pete checked his phone occasionally to see if Cleo was outside and to see if Bennie had found anything they wanted, eventually Avery and Kendell both agreed on a turquoise bracelet for their mom and a peach-colored ring. There was food at a table in the back lot of the warehouse, glass demonstrations were going on as well which the kids begged him to go watch after getting a quick snack; Bennie appeared sometime later with a little glass faerie figure and a frog windchime, they wanted to see the glass demonstration too so the family hung around while one of the glassmakers demonstrated on how to make what looked like glass. 

“I wanna do that dad” Bennie looked up at him “can I do that when I’m older?” 

“If being a glass artist is what you want, of course” Pete smiled at them then looked back at the demonstration before hearing his phone ringing “oh crap, I think that’s Cleo” 

It was, in fact, not Cleo; instead to Pete’s slight unease it was Melody calling, wasn’t 4 days a little early still after an awkward break-up? Well it couldn't hurt to talk at least. 

“Hello?” 

“ _ Pete hi!”  _ he winced a little and moved the phone from his ear, where was she? It was so loud “ _ hey, I’m out right now at this glass event and I thought I saw you?”  _

That made his stomach twirl a little “oh-maybe? I’m out right now waiting for the kids’ mom-” 

“Daddy, is it mom?” Avery pulled on Pete’s shirt “daddy I wanna say hi!” 

“ _ Are you with your kids here?”  _ again there was that distaste tone

Pete sighed through his nose “yeah, kids are at this event assuming you’re at Sunshine Riptides glass thing. If you’ll let me finish I’m waiting for their mom, it’s her weekend” 

“ _ Oh, well can I come to say hi at least? I’m pretty sure you went to the back?”  _

“Uh-” 

“Daddy, is it mom?” Avery whined, pulling more on Pete’s shirt and jerking him down a little 

“Avery stop honey, Dad’s talking” Pete momentarily pulled the phone away from his ear but when he put it back Melody had apparently hung up, uh-oh

“Who was that” Bennie asked, although judging by their arms crossed he had a feeling they knew 

“No one” Pete lied and sent a text to Cleo telling her where they were “come on, how about we get some more food?” 

A little bit away from the outside hot shop were tables set up for people to eat, the family sat down at one and started on the burgers and hot dogs they bought. Pete tried to listen to his kids' conversation but instead, he was more focused on looking around the people wondering if he’d spot Melody, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Bennien again had their arms crossed and a scowl set on their face. Apparently, Pete not giving her an answer was a yes to Melody to come look for him because soon he saw her red hair sticking out like a sore thumb through the crowd, she smiled brightly once she spotted him through the people but that smile shrank upon seeing his kids. Had she listened at all during their call?

“Oh look” Bennie grumbled, they huffed a breath through their nose causing their ears to change and flick and their nose to turn a plum purple color, their horn might as well have come out “it’s Melody” 

“Huh?” Kendell and Avery said in unison and looked around before spotting her walking over

“Well hi everyone, so nice to see you” Melody chirped as she walked up, putting her hands behind her back and rocking on her feet “how’s everyone been?” 

“Hello” the brothers again said in unison, although it was obvious they were confused why she was there 

“We’re waiting for our mom,” Avery said frowning “what are you doing here” 

“That’s not very nice” Melody hummed

“ _ You  _ don’t talk that way to my brother” Bennie snarled and bared their teeth, yep there was their horn starting to peek through their bangs

The hostility took Melody off guard and she took a step back before clearing her throat “that’s very nice, I hope you have a nice time with your mom. I’m just here to say hi to your dad” 

Pete reached over and put a hand on Bennie’s shoulder, his kid snorted again but their horn disappeared thankfully “yes well dad didn’t exactly say it was okay since we’re still waiting for mom. Anway hi Melody, it’s nice to see you. Found anything here?” 

If Bennie wasn’t ready to murder this woman before they were when Melody sat down at the table, completely ignoring the way the 2 boys scooted closer to their dad. 

“Yes actually, some very nice pieces, maybe I can show you them? When the kids are gone of course, wouldn’t want their mom to go on a goose chase” she smiled but it was small, Pete felt a twinge of guilt. 

“Sure, that’d be nice for Cleo” Pete pulled his phone out to check and luck would have it that Cleo texted that she was just now reaching downtown “are you selling anything here?” 

“Nah I haven’t made anything worth selling” Melody leaned on her hand, boy she went from looking uncomfortable to bored fast “have you found anything worth buying?” 

“We’re buying our mom a bracelets!” Avery piped up and held up the bag Pete had allowed him to carry “she likes lotsa jewelry so me and Kenny got her stuff!” 

“Oh, cute” Melody smiled but it looked fake, did this girl really not know how to react to kids? 

Bennie snorted again and turned to Pete “Dad can I have a dollar? I’m thirsty again” 

“Sure” he handed them a five and suggested taking the boys with them, once they were gone Pete turned to Melody “funny running in to you here, I didn't think we’d see each other again so soon” 

  
“I don’t think it’s too soon” Melody chirped “anyway yeah, I didn't know you would be interested in glass after almost passing out” 

“ _ You almost what!”  _

Both adults jumped at Bennie and Kendell’s shrieks, unfortunately, that also meant attention was drawn to them; both kids dropped their bottles of water and ran to their dad, wrapping him in tight hugs that felt like a corset, Avery jumped up from behind and started to choke dad with his arms around his neck. If Melody wasn’t uncomfortable with kids before this time was worse, she stood up quickly from the table clearly confused and looking at Pete now like he had parasites on him. Awkwardly Pete reached up and unhooked Avery’s arms from around him, setting him back on the ground and gently pushed his kids away from his sides to breathe, thankfully now the attention on them was gone and everyone else was back to watching the demonstrations or back to their own lives. 

“Sweet angels of mine don’t suffocate dad please” Pete croaked out rubbing at what he figured might turn into bruises from Avery’s hands 

“What do you mean you almost fainted!” Bennie was sending Melody a murderous look

“Daddy shouldn’t faint, it’s not good for you” Avery had crawled to sit in his lap and was patting his face as if it were hurt “no fainting, daddy” 

“Dad’s  _ fine  _ kids” Pete insisted, giving Avery a hug and then ruffling both Bennie and Kendells’ hair “it was just an almost, no fainting for real” 

The kids were still unconvinced, Avery and Kendell hugging his dad while Bennie was still giving Melody a hostile look. Boy wasn’t this unexpected reunion going to shit, he wasn’t sure if it was making matters better or worse but his phone was ringing. 

“Hello?” he answered, Melody looked annoyed 

“ _ Pete hey, sorry I’m a little late, someone blocked traffic so I’m taking a detour. Everything okay?”  _

“Hey, Cleo, yeah everything’s alright” Pete fit the phone between his shoulder and ear to pull Bennie over and hopefully stop their acidic look “the kids got you some gifts actually, so there’s a surprise when you get here” 

She laughed “ _ oh really? Well-ah, lights turning green, gotta hang up. See you soon!”  _

“See you soon” 

“Was that mommy?” Melody asked, Pete didn’t like her tone 

“Where is she?” Avery looked up at Pete with wide excited eyes “is she coming?” 

“Mom’s a little held up in traffic at the moment honey, she’s coming though don’t worry” Pete looked back at Melody “I’ll be leaving pretty soon, it was nice to see you” 

“Oh, really? Won’t your schedule be open once the kids are gone?” Melody briefly glanced at them then back at Pete smiling

“I’ve actually got work to do today, I just figured a break was needed. Plus the kids were excited about this event so I figured it’d be nice for them” Pete said.

Melody went quiet then slowly nodded “right, work, I forgot you’re not a stay-at-home dad. It never occurred to me there was so much work put into having a record deal” 

“There’s a lot” Pete hummed in agreement then his phone rang again “ah, hang on” 

“ _ Hey I’m finally here, you’re still in the back lot right?”  _

“Yeah, we’re at a table, can’t miss it. Bennie dressed like a high lighter today” Pete laughed at Bennie sticking their tongue out at him “see you in a few then” 

“Is it mom?” Kendell asked, hopping off the table sea.

Pete nodded “Yeah, she’s here and she’s coming to the backlot” 

Pete carefully handed Avery to Bennie and stood up, taking him back and situating him so he wouldn’t have a sore neck when he woke up. Through the crowd at the front Pete spotted Cleo, he waved to her and she came over, the smile on her face becoming smaller a bit as she noticed Melody; either she connected the dots or thought Pete was already dating again. 

“Mom!” Kendell ran up to her almost knocking her down with a hug

“Hey you” she said laughing, walking and hugging Kendell up to the others “Hey Pete, I see Avery’s knocked out” 

“Yeah, he spent most of the day racing around the backyard” Pete handed him to her and the bag from the table “that’s your gifts by the way” 

“What’d you get me” Cleo asked jokingly suspicious then looked at Melody “hi, I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Cleo” 

“Melody, nice to meet you” she said smiling 

Cleo’s face briefly flickered to an ‘oh’ look before smiling again “oh you’re Melody, it’s so nice to meet a friend of Pete’s. I hope the kids weren’t too much trouble, you know how kids are” 

Pete winced a little, that was low “the kids never are, have a good weekend Cleo” 

“You too, bye Pete” she gave him a side hug and then Bennie before heading off with Kendell in tow. 

Melody turned to Pete then paused looking at Bennie, he could see the cogs turning in her head and waited for the inevitable question that always made things awkward, especially as Bennie got older and brasher about answering. 

“Isn’t Bennie going to go with their mom?” she asked

Pete wrinkled his nose in annoyance, she wasn’t going to ask if they could spend the day together again right? “No actually, circumstances with their mom are complicated” 

“My mom hates my guts and wishes I was dead and my dad doesn’t even know I exist” Bennie said calmly as possible.

Pete blew a sigh through his nose, yeah, that’s usually how Bennie responded to people asking about their parents. Melody’s face turned to a mixture of confusion and horror, whether it was how blatant Bennie said it or that Bennie said it at all he wasn’t sure, regardless Pete felt it was time for them to leave. 

“We’re gonna head out now, it was nice seeing you, Melody” 

“You too” 

As if the awkwardness cake didn’t have enough cringing cherries on it she hugged him, which would’ve been fine but Pete wasn’t too comfortable with how tight she was squeezing him. Apparently during their hug though Bennie had wandered off, Pete mumbled another quick goodbye and hurried off, he didn’t spot them anywhere and started to panic until he spotted them over by a table with large sculptures that didn’t look quite like glass. Andy was standing behind the table talking with them, he looked amused at whatever they were saying and as Pete neared he heard Bennie was asking 20 questions more or less. 

“How come you can do that though if this stuff is made out of quartz” 

“Because dragon fire is hotter than normal fire” Andy responded looking ready to laugh, he quirked a brow when Pete walked up “hi again, I take it this is your kid?” 

“Yeah, this is Bennie” Pete wrapped his arm around their shoulder “who isn’t supposed to run off from Dad” 

“I didn't go far” Bennie huffed then pointed at a large angel figure “He says that’s made out of quartz and topaz” 

“What?” Pete’s eyes widened a little as he leaned and looked at it “you can do that?” 

“A dragon can” Andy said smiling “dragon fire is hot enough to melt anything, if you have the right experience you can make things like that. It’s Patrick’s specialty actually” 

“Really?” Pete imagined Patrick in a suit or some artsy outfit in a museum now “where is he anyway” 

“Looking for him?” Andy joked then nodded his head towards a door “he’s in the back checking on lists for who ordered what, some people paid ahead and we’re shipping their pieces to them. You wanna talk to him?” 

“No it’s cool, if he’s busy I don’t wanna bother him” 

As if on cue though Patrick came out through the door holding a kindle, he was tapping the screen and walking over when he looked up and paused seeing Pete. 

“Hey, I wondered if you were coming after all” Patrick stood behind the table with Andy smiling “enjoying everything? I know it’s boring looking at glass” 

“No way, it’s cool seeing everything everyone’s done” Pete nodded to the angel “Andy here says you can make sculptures out of crystals like glass? How much do you charge” 

Patrick’s cheeks turned pink “oh-I’m not really taking commissions at the moment now, it takes me a lot of money to get the gems I need. Are there any pieces here you might like?” 

Pete hummed biting back a laugh “well I meant how much were the pieces but I’ll keep in mind you do commissions. I wouldn’t mind paying for the materials” 

“Oh-oh okay” Patrick laughed awkwardly and gestured down the table “pick anything you want” 

  
“I thought we were leaving,” Bennie asked as they followed Pete down the table, eyes narrowed 

Pete rolled his eyes and booped their nose “I am  _ not  _ going to ask Patrick on a date, Ben, I just want to look at his stuff” 

“Mhmmm” Bennie left him to look while going back, probably to ask Patrick things. 

Pete ended up settling on something he knew his mother would love; a large tree with a bird in a nest and eggs with it, her birthday was coming up soon so it would be a perfect gift. Returning to Patrick Bennie indeed was asking him things about glass blowing and other art things, Pete laughed at how the man looked flustered and wondered if Bennie was asking absurd questions. Andy took down their address and number promising it’d be shipped out by Monday, Pete was p[retty sure he was wrong but he almost thought Andy had nudged Patrick as he left the other man behind the table. 

“I’m glad you came to the event, I hope it was a good time” Patrick looked at Bennie, head titled “and this one seems very excited about getting older to glass blow. Trust me, you’ll be happy it takes you a bit to get older” 

Bennie just huffed “lots of adults keep telling me that, I have yet to see why I should be” 

“No taxes” Pete hummed putting his hand on his kid’s head “if that glass ornaments class is still available you’ll be seeing us there again” 

“Can’t wait” Patrick waved to them as they left. 


	3. Chapter 3

“Why do you always do that” Pete asked as they were driving home. 

Bennie sat in the passenger seat arms crossed and huddled in on themselves “do what, ask people questions?” 

Pete sighed through his nose and glanced at them with a stern look “you know what I mean” 

“Because it’s true” 

Pete half sighed half groaned and bonked his head on the steering wheel as they reached a red light “Bennie please, your dad’s single again and not involved with Melody. Couldn’t you have just left it at what I said?” 

“No, because I don’t like her” Bennie huffed and glared out the front windshield “she likes you still dad, it’s very obvious.” 

“Bennie Wentz” 

“She  _ does,  _ she was lying through her teeth through that whole time she was with us” Bennie uncrossed their arms and sat up straighter in their seat, it failed to look serious due to their height “she didn’t find anything at the event, she just wanted to spend time with you, she didn’t hope Avery and Kenny had a good weekend she was hoping that we’d all piss off faster-” 

“Bennie” 

They ignored their dad’s tone “and when she asked if it was Cleo she was pissed cause I could tell she thought you and Cleo had the boys! And she thought we’d be gone so she could spend time with you cause she wants to get back with you-” 

“Bennie Wentz” Pete looked at them briefly before looking back at the road “drop it” 

“She thinks your music career is stupid! And she doesn’t even want to understand us, Every time she’s looked at us and lied and said we were cute she’s thought we were annoying and she kept wishing we weren’t around-” 

“Bennie Jay Wentz that is  _ enough!”  _

Bennie opened their mouth again but shrieked, Pete hit the breaks almost running a red light, his stomach twisted as he heard the driver in the car beside them start cursing at him but he just blew out a sigh ignoring it and looked at his kid frowning. 

“That’s  _ enough,  _ if you don’t have anything nice to say about Melody then keep it to yourself, it’s been a stressful week because of work Bennie and today hasn’t helped it any, if you say one more bad thing about Melody then you’re grounded” 

The silence that filled the car was tense and awkward, Pete just focused on driving back home once the light turned green. 

Then, very quietly he heard “it’s not my fault you didn’t give me to an orphanage” 

Slowly coldness crept into his veins and Pete blew a sigh through his nose, just stare at the road and get home, simple as that. 

* * *

How Pete ended up becoming a father wasn’t ideal, but then again he hadn’t really ever thought of himself as a family man. It felt like a novel of some kind whenever he’s been asked how he got the kids, he only gives a watered-down version of it but to those who get close to him he tells the whole truth; it’s never a pretty one. When Pete had been 25 he’d met a girl named Lorelai, she’d been too good to be true he’d been told by friends and even his mom but he’d been convinced maybe she was the one that he’d spend the rest of his life with, a common thing that happened to him. It was 2 years into their relationship though that Pete did start to notice some cracks, although it wasn’t quite what you’d think; Lorelai would suddenly need to dip out into the hall for a phone call, Pete never eavesdropped (he’d learned his lesson from that), but it always escalated to shouting and when she’d come back she didn’t want any consolation leading to her leaving. 

Figuring it might’ve been her job stressing her out as a surprise one day Pete went to her apartment to drop off some flowers and a basket of her favorite snacks, when he knocked on the door though she didn’t answer and instead it was one of her roommates; they look on their face had made him uneasy but what was worse was when they literally grabbed him and pulled him into the apartment thanking him for “taking over their job” before leaving Pete standing in the apartment alone. 

Or at least that was what he’d thought until he’d heard a ragged cough and saw a little head poke up from the couch. 

That was when Pete had learned Lorelai had a daughter and the little world he thought they were building up quickly crumbled; he hadn’t freaked out though, instead, he’d called Lorelai and told her he was at her apartment, immediately she’d taken on a panicked tone and said he should come by later until he mentioned that he’d already seen her kid. On her side the call had gone dead quiet before she’d just said “okay”. Things spiraled after that, Pete hadn’t thought of ever being a dad but hey if he was dating a girl with a kid then he’d better get used to it, right? Except every time he’d ask how Bennie was doing, even if it was a few weeks in part, Lorelai would act like she didn’t have a kid or told Pete “you’re not the dad you don’t need to worry about the kid”. 

Finally, things exploded after a few months resulting in a nasty breakup, Pete had gone back to his apartment where either Lorelai or one of her roommates had beaten him to it; the kid had been sitting outside his door shivering and coughing, honestly, they looked like they’d been neglected for a while, but why the hell were they in front of Pete’s door? He’d tried calling Lorelai only to hear the number was no longer in service, and after trying to call the apartment he’d gotten through to the landlady who told him Lorelai had just up and left. After having an almost panic attack outside the apartments Pete went back inside to see the kid had conked out, for a second Pete had been terrified they’d actually died but when he took their arm to check their pulse he just found they’d fallen asleep. 

As if this abandoned orphan story couldn’t get worse Pete saw they had a note taped to their back, now his panic had changed to anger as he pulled the note off, who the fuck just abandoned their kids? In short, the note had said she didn’t want Bennie and that the kid had liked Pete out of all the dudes she’d dated so he seemed to the best option, if he didn’t want Bennie Lorelai just told him to “toss them to an orphanage or something”. So Pete getting his first kid was not an ideal way for any parent, as if that wasn’t obvious enough; he’d reported Lorelai to authorities for neglect and had called his mom for help, explaining everything while trying to make canned soup for the kid snoozing on his couch. 

Things happened after; Lorelai being charged with neglect, Pete somehow being given custody of a child he had no idea how to take care of, his mom having to calm him down and him living with her for a few months before his record deal managed to work out and he was finally able to afford a life for him and his new kid. Avery and Kendell were a little less dramatic than Bennie coming into his life, although still could’ve been written into a novel of its own somehow he was sure. After their life had settled a little more Pete had started looking for dates, it hadn’t really gone well since most people wanted hook-ups and or were looking for sugar daddies but eventually Pete met a nice guy named Jeremy Wekser. 

He’d had kids of his own (a 2-year-old and a newborn which made Pete wonder if maybe he was a recent divorcee) so he’d been perfectly fine with Pete having a 7-year-old and Bennie had gotten along with him well enough. Jeremy had been great, sure they had their disagreements but they made a pretty good team as far as Pete was concerned. But of course life didn’t give anything easy to Pete Wentz, this time at least he had gotten a heads up from Cleo, Jeremy's ex-wife. She hadn’t said it definitely though, Pete and her had become friends of sorts and one night while hanging out at Kendell’s 4th birthday she confessed to him out of the blue why she and Jeremy had divorced. After Kendell had been born apparently Jeremy had been cheating in secret, of course she found out and filed for a divorce, leaving their poor newborn with just a mom. 

Pete had tried to pretend that he didn't wonder if that was going to happen to him but an evil little whisper in his head would continuously remind him of it, then the inevitable truth came out that yes, Jeremy was indeed cheating on Pete came out resulting in another break-up and Jeremy giving his custody to Pete. It wasn’t an ideal life Pete would have ever wanted for any kids, especially now that they were his sometimes he wished he could go back in time and fix things but then again, if he did would he have ever become their dad? It was thoughts like that that popped into his head at the worst of times but eventually, he’d thought of them less and less and more of what do the kids need for homework, who’s weekend was it, what was good for dinner, mundane things like that. 

* * *

Once they finally got home Pete wasn’t surprised that Bennie ran like hell was on their heels and disappeared inside, for a few seconds he just smacked his head repeatedly into the steering wheel; he didn’t need to know what he’d already suspected about Melody, honestly he just didn't want anymore Melody at all today. Inside the house was too quiet, not even the dogs came running to greet him, Pete just sighed and shook his head before heading upstairs to his office. Papers, papers, answering some emails, talking with Spencer about delegating, and making a few calls; that pretty much summarized his work for the rest of the evening, by the time it was dinner Pete had pretty much finished his workload but to his slight annoyance he had a few meetings booked for next week, oh well such was life. 

He stood up and stretched, popping his back a little before heading downstairs to figure out dinner. Saturday was missing but Bowie came running up to him to jump up giving him kisses, he laughed and scratched behind both ears before letting his dog land back on his front paws and headed to the kitchen, husky following after him. The bulldog was probably with Bennie, despite there being 4 in the family he always went right back to them, Pete was glad at least that his kids could grow up with dogs like he did. He grumbled to himself in annoyance as he looked through the fridge and cupboards, plenty of food but nothing was seeming like a good idea, there was only 2 people in the house tonight so shouldn’t it have been easy to just find some food? 

Screw it, you could never go wrong with pizza, shutting the cupboard Pete dialed the nearby Dominos and ordered, with work and dinner out of the way he figured he should check on Bennie. The kids' rooms were in the left part of the house in a hall connecting to the main one, Bennie, when they’d moved, chose a huge room that admittedly had too much room for just one kid but with how many art projects they’d have it worked fine, Pete stopped outside the door and sighed as they'd hung up the  _ DO NOT DISTURB  _ sign; faintly he could hear Peacock Affect playing, alright, it was one of those days then, Pete knocked 3 times then waited for a response. There was none of course, though the music was turned up a little louder and Pete heard Saturday bark at the door, again Pete knocked and this time the music was stopped and he heard footsteps nearing the door. 

It opened only a bit and Pete could barely see Bennie but he knew they were there. 

“What do you want for dinner?” 

The door shut “I’m not hungry, feed yourself” 

Pete sighed and knocked again “Bennie you can be upset with me that’s fine, but you still need to eat” 

Again no response 

“Fine, we’re eating pizza, I already made an order. Let Saturday out, I think he needs to go to the bathroom” 

The door opened too fast for him to register it and then there was a bulldog looking up at him wiggling with his whole body as he wagged. Right, tweenage tantrum, whatever it wasn’t like Pete didn’t expect to start dealing with his kids and their tantrums. He let the dogs out and then headed to the living room to kill time till the pizza arrived, might as well binge a few episodes of  _ The Toys That Made Us _ . Around 8 the pizza turned up and so did Bennie although they were still maintaining their silent treatment and just hung by the fridge while Pete grabbed plates. 

“Why don’t you come watch T.V. with me?” Pete said while making them a plate, Bennie wrinkled their nose a little and Pete laughed “what, I’m too old to hang out with my kid?” 

“You’re only asking me to because you don’t want me to be sheltered in my room all weekend” 

Pete flinched, pausing in spooning the fettuccine to the plate “no, I’m just asking ‘cause I like spending time with my kid” 

Bennie just sniffed and held their hands out for their plate, at least they did stick around and sat on a beanbag chair they had by the window. 

“Haven’t you already watched this season?” Bennie asked after they finished an episode of LEGO. 

“I have but I like rewatching them, it’s nice seeing everyone’s passion about their dream and seeing that it happened” Pete paused the episode and headed to the kitchen, Bennie following him 

“So if I made a toy would you support me?” 

Pete snorted while grabbing more pizza “what kind of a question is that, of course I would” 

Bennie frowned as Pete put some slices on their plate “what if it was a creepy doll though, with fake human teeth and a stitch face” 

“So a fuggler doll?” 

Pete laughed as his kid scowled “ _ no  _ it’d be way creepier, parents would hate me”

“Well that’s their fault, I for one will be a proud parent” he sat back on the couch and looked at Bennie “what?” 

They had an annoyed frown on their face “you’re making it very hard to be dramatic” 

“Honey your dad has had his share of years of being melodramatic, I know how to deal with it” Pete laughed and unpaused the episode. 

Bennie just rolled their eyes and sat back down. 

*

“ _...and I got to show mom my trick! And our neighbors have a manticore kid so he and Avery played in the front yard”  _

“That's great Kenny, I’m glad you’re having a good time with your mom” Pete hummed smiling while looking through papers “speaking of time, it  _ is  _ bedtime for you guys. You all ready?” 

Kendell dramatically sighed “ _ I  _ guess  _ I am, but why can’t I stay up like Bennie”  _

“Bennie doesn’t, they have a bedtime too” not really but semantics 

“ _ No they don’t, they stay up and read-mom wants me to give you the phone so you can tell Avery goodnight _ ” Kendell interrupted himself “ _ night dad, love you”  _

“Love you too buddy, sweet dreams” Pete hummed as he heard the phone being taken then Cleo mumbled a tired hello “you sound pretty beat, the kids that much of a handful?”

“ _ I’m sure Kenny told you but Avery made a new friend today, our new neighbors finally settled in and they’ve got some kids of their own. I’m relieved at least, now he has some friends that aren’t just at school, the kid’s name is Avalar. I swear it was like herding cats today to get Avery to come inside, I think if we let them those boys would’ve played till sunrise”  _

Pete laughed “that’s good, that’s good, I’m glad to hear they’re having a good time. If anyone’s got any expertise herding cats it’s gonna be you” 

“ _ Hardy har Mr. Feathers”  _ Cleo laughed “ _ here’s your son by the way”  _

“ _ Daddy!”  _ Avery’s chipper voice came through the speaker “ _ daddy it’s bedtime now, are you gonna tell me good night?”  _

“Mhm, I already told Kenny goodnight. Sweet dreams Avery-” 

_ “Daddy wait! I wanna tell you about my new friend! They’re a manticore-”  _

Pete heard Cleo gently interrupting her son, telling him he could tell dad all about their games tomorrow, he heard the familiar huff his son had definitely picked up from their older sibling and the phone was handed back to him.

_ “Mommy says I have to go to bed but I can tell you tomorrow. Night daddy! I love yoooouuu!”  _

The ‘you’ rang a little loudly in Pete’s ear “love you too Avery, sweet dreams” 

The call ended with him and Cleo discussing where to meet up on Monday, and then Pete was once again alone in his office; downstairs he could hear Kacey Muskgraves playing but otherwise the house was pretty quiet. Admittedly, the home office was supposed to be for work-related things, DCD2  _ was  _ his job after all (plus being the owner of it all but details) but sometimes like at that moment Pete would have paperwork in his hands and Youtube pulled up on his computer. Something he was curious about was how exactly a dragon worked in a hot shop; while fire elementals themselves were just that, the element of fire, Dragon fire was-at least to Pete’s knowledge-much stronger, so how did they not burn the blowpipes or cause the glass or whatever material they were using to explode or burst into flames? 

Lucky for Pete there were several channels more than happy to explain to people or even show beginner dragon glass blowers how to work in a hot shop, one channel he’d been watching was called  _ AliceinGlassLand _ and the owner of the channel was a jabberwocky looking dragon. She was, in Pete’s opinion, really the best option he’d found so far of videos to watch; going over the trolls and how a hot shop work, explaining the frits and how they work, how colored glass won’t look the same when it’s heated up and how it can change over time possibly, even small details Pete never really thought of in glass. 

His main question at least was answered though, hot shops after the Accessibility Act sometime in the early 50s were required to have specially made blowpipes, gloves, tools and even their own gloryholes to withstand their breath when they blow in the tube (fire dragons don’t always breathe fire of course, their breath was just naturally too hot even without the flames). What Pete found interesting was that fire dragons still needed the special heat glasses, he’d figured since they blew fire they’d be fine with the fire in a hot shop but apparently, their eyes were even more sensitive than any other creature when it came to molten glass, although Alice didn’t dive too deep into this topic. 

Now while doing paperwork Pete was just watching videos of different glass creations being made, it was maybe after watching the 8th video in the playlist he found that he realized the music downstairs had stopped followed by someone knocking on the office door. 

“Dad? I’m tired” 

Pete hummed and set down the file he’d been reading, walking over to the door and opening it. A droopy-eyed Bennie was frowning up at him with their arms stretched up open, he laughed and pulled them into a hug, ruffling their hair. 

“Goodnight Ben, sweet dreams” 

“You’re squishing my face” Bennie grumbled and wriggled out of Pete’s arms “you should go to sleep too” 

“Dad’s fine” Pete ruffled their hair again, this time they just blew some bangs out of their face “you head on off to bed now okay?” 

“Uh-huh” 

They waddled away down the hall, not too far behind them Saturday followed. 

Sitting back in his chair Pete paused the video to save the playlist, he probably should at least try to head to bed himself although sleep was something that always eluded him, putting the file in a binder for safekeeping Pete started to shut the page down but paused. Was it...was it his imagination or now that he looked at the video background was the hot shop...familiar? Frowning Pete leaned in closer, the light from the screen starting to hurt his eyes a little, no yeah that back wall with the colored glass rods were familiar honeycomb-shaped shelves. Was that Sunshine Riptide-no, Pete shook his head laughing at himself, maybe all hot shops had shelves like that, or maybe Alice’s just happened to have the same shelving...except Pete was pretty sure that yeah, this place was Patrick's shop, what was furthering that idea were some scorch marks Pete recalled seeing on a wall that resembled a whale almost. 

He chewed on that thought as he closed to page and shut everything down, Patrick did say anyone used the hot shop so maybe Alice booked some hours there and made videos, that’d be pretty cool Pete thought to himself smiling on his way to bed, he went to the same hot shop as this lady who made helpful videos on informing people. Pete stretched and popped his back as he undressed and got ready for bed, shaking around and allowing his feathers out; it wasn’t unusual for bird folk to have their real selves showing but Pete liked now having to worry about his feathers getting crumpled up by hoodies, at home though he could let his feathers out completely. Running along his arms and growing into actual wings though if you ran an x-ray along them you’d see he still had human hands underneath the feathers, creeping up along his neck and ears where they turned into something similar to harpy eagle feathers sticking up. 

Pete prided himself on how his feathers looked, white with yellow and gold mixed in looking like they’d been dipped, along his neck the feathers were a more solid golden color albeit duller in the lamplight of the bedroom, as Pete snuggled into the mattress and somehow began to doze off he decided he’d stop by Sunshine Riptide again, maybe he could try out glass blowing himself. 


End file.
